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Are we the enemy?

Is our species evolving into a new superorganism taking over Earth? Gaia Vince thinks so. At BBC.com he makes the provocative argument that humanity is completely transforming life on our planet.Vince argues that our species, Homo sapiens, is evolving into a superorganism he calls Homo omnis, or ‘Homni’ that is in some ways equivalent to a slime mold monster.Do we behave like slime moulds, individuals coming together to have a much more powerful influence on the planet? (Science Photo Library)

Only time will tell if we will be a benign caretaker, or a monster that destroys life and with it ourselves. The odds aren’t good.

From dungeons and haunted turrets, to four-poster beds and glorious spas, a stay in a British castle is a magical and mysterious experience. As the original owners pass away or find it itoo expensive to maintain their ancestral homes, more and more beautiful castles are opening their doors to guests, Britain Magazine says.Ruthin Castle, Denbighshire: The Wales retreat surrounded by a vast estate was built in the late 13th century for King Edward by Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Dafydd went on to become the Prince of Wales, before being hung, drawn and quartered for treason. Ruthin Castle has been transformed into a luxurious hotel.

Well, Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales, actually. I don’t know whose idea it was to stick a girls’ boarding school into a haunted castle, but it was inspired.I spent a year in that school. Yes it had at least one resident ghost. It had exposed beams, old fireplaces, stone walls, mullioned windows, cobbled yards, battlements, ivied walls. All of it.An interior shot complete with ghost. Well, not a ghost, of course, just some student, teacher, visitor or … hmmm?

I lived in a storybook castle for a year. for all that it was a BOARDING SCHOOL They had *pink stuff* for lunch sometimes. I don’t to this day know what it was but it tasted foul and I don’t eat anything pink to this day.

It’s a luxury hotel now.

~~~~~8 Authors Whose Biggest Successes Came After The Age of 50

When you read lists like “the top 25 writers under 25”, or find out that Stephen King published three of his major novels before the age of 30, it can feel like the time to write the next great novel has already passed, Rincey Abraham writes at Book Riot.

However, there is no age limit for when a novel can be published. These authors’ major works were all published when they were in their 50s or later.

Laura Ingalls Wilder:Little House in the Big Woods, the first of Wilder’s Little House books, was originally published in 1932 when Wilder was 65 and the final book was published when she was 76.

There are adults who actively, sometimes exclusively, read YA fiction, Syreeta Barlow writes in Book Riot, as if it’s a fattening indulgence that cannot be denied.

But I think certain children’s and young adult fiction should be required re-reading after your Nth birthday. Your perspective will completely change. Trust me. Revisit Catcher in the Rye after you’ve had your quarter-life crisis, and suddenly, your teenage drama feels like it played out in some Marvel multiverse where you remained forever seventeen and nothing was as important as other people’s opinions of you. When you can reflect on your adolescence without self-pity or undeserved veneration, you may be closer to discovering your true self in the words that spoke to you as a child.

~~~~La Jaguarina: Queen of the SwordIn April 1896, Rejected Princesses reports, hardened veteran US Sergeant Charles Walsh was hit so hard in a round of equestrian fencing that his opponent’s sword was permanently bent backwards in a U shape. His opponent? A woman who later retired only because she ran out of people to fight.